Selling prints to local hotels

I'm living in one of the busiest places in the Canadian Rockies (Banff) and I want to take advantage of the dense number of hotels in this area and try and get my images into them.

I worked as a housekeeper in one of the hotels and noticed EVERY room has pictures of the mountains in the surrounding area and local landmarks. Most of the shots are fairly out dated and look a little 'tired', some of them are straight up ugly.

I don't have any sales experience and I have no idea how to approach the hotel owners/managers with an offer to stock my work. Should I take along a few prints to show them on the spot? Should I just give them a business card with my website and details and explain that they should replace their current pictures?

Any advice on this would be great!

I'd suggest taking any prints that you can. It's a lot easier to get them interested if you have something to show them up front... as opposed to hoping they visit your site after you leave.

Unless the person you talk to is an avid photographer, I'm sure they wouldn't bother looking up your website. They have other things to do. Like the poster above said, take in samples to show that your work is better than what they currently have.

Something else to consider are the expectations to actually sell to them. I have no idea what type of hotel we are talking about, but obviously their job is to make money (by renting rooms). If they have artwork in place, good or bad... is your work going to help them do that? I don't know that I've ever heard someone say that they wanted to stay at a particular hotel because of the artwork they have. YMMV.

drvnbysound wrote in post #16340334
Something else to consider are the expectations to actually sell to them. I have no idea what type of hotel we are talking about, but obviously their job is to make money (by renting rooms). If they have artwork in place, good or bad... is your work going to help them do that? I don't know that I've ever heard someone say that they wanted to stay at a particular hotel because of the artwork they have. YMMV.

I visit Portland quite often and I stay at a hotel which is more like a big lodge with a huge open fireplace in the lobby and all. The rooms run that same theme, feels very homey and the art matches that home-like feeling. Yes, the art and overall feel of a hotel really does matter, at least to me.

Hogloff wrote in post #16340454
I visit Portland quite often and I stay at a hotel which is more like a big lodge with a huge open fireplace in the lobby and all. The rooms run that same theme, feels very homey and the art matches that home-like feeling. Yes, the art and overall feel of a hotel really does matter, at least to me.

When I visit Portland I spend my time outside doing sunrise / sunset shoots. The only time I am in the room is at night during sleep when its dark and decor doesnt do anything for me.

Nice fresh new art work is one of the things I notice when I travel, it helps the overall feel of a room or entire hotel.

neimad19 wrote in post #16339860
. . . I worked as a housekeeper in one of the hotels and noticed EVERY room has pictures of the mountains in the surrounding area and local landmarks. Most of the shots are fairly out dated and look a little 'tired', some of them are straight up ugly.

drvnbysound wrote in post #16340334
. . . If they have artwork in place, good or bad... is your work going to help them do that? (rent rooms) I don't know that I've ever heard someone say that they wanted to stay at a particular hotel because of the artwork they have.

Hogloff wrote in post #16340454
I visit Portland quite often and I stay at a hotel which is more like a big lodge with a huge open fireplace in the lobby and all. The rooms run that same theme, feels very homey and the art matches that home-like feeling. Yes, the art and overall feel of a hotel really does matter, at least to me.

Littlejon Dsgn wrote in post #16341121
Nice fresh new art work is one of the things I notice when I travel, it helps the overall feel of a room or entire hotel.

Here's my thought . . . if (based on your original question) your sales focus is to replace current shots with just newer shots of the same mountains, then drvnbysound's comment/question is likely to be in play. What will newer shots do to rent rooms? If on the other hand, you can point out how their lobby and rooms are disjointed and need a more cohesive "look and feel" like Hogloff and Littlejon Dsgn alude to, then you should look towards that target.

From what little research I have done, the hotel will not want to pay much for the art either, I would go in with a full size sample of what you plan to sell, along with a pricing chart that shows 10 at x.xx , 50 at xx.xx, 100 at xxx.xx. That away you know going in what your prices will be and can negotiate on the spot knowing your bottom line.

Instead of trying to sell to the hotel why don't offer to supply prints in the public areas with you contact info and price visible? You could arrange to rotate the prints from time time. You could offer the hotel a commission on prints sold to the public. Selling to the hotel is a one-time deal; selling to the public could be on-going. If the hotel demonstrates interest in prints for the rooms you could offer to sell them at a deep discount.

Narwhal wrote in post #16341329
Instead of trying to sell to the hotel why don't offer to supply prints in the public areas with you contact info and price visible? You could arrange to rotate the prints from time time. You could offer the hotel a commission on prints sold to the public. Selling to the hotel is a one-time deal; selling to the public could be on-going. If the hotel demonstrates interest in prints for the rooms you could offer to sell them at a deep discount.

A little twist on your idea - Offer them to display your prints in public area and sell them for you. Once they make some sales give them your prints as their cut.

dkizzle wrote in post #16340590
When I visit Portland I spend my time outside doing sunrise / sunset shoots. The only time I am in the room is at night during sleep when its dark and decor doesnt do anything for me.

Man you sound like a boring person. Portland is alive at night with all the great brew pubs and restaurants, live music everywhere and just about every weekend there is an outdoor festival going on.

You should venture out one time....might just like it.

Don't get me wrong, I am all over photographing the great locations surrounding Portland, but I sure don't sleep much at night when there.

Wow, I just got home and checked this thread. Thanks for all the input!

This is all great advice! I'm going to pitch these ideas to my old hotel manager (she's a personal friend outside of work too) and see what she has to say about each of them. Ill work on putting together a rough plan of how I'm going to pitch the sales after I talk to her tonight and get back to everyone here.

Thanks again for all the advice/input!

I've worked for both Marriott and Hilton for years doing maintenance work, Everything is usually a standard. Bedding, Pictures, Wallpaper, Paint-color that the managers have no control over. Usually hotels never even make budget every month and would prob ignore your idea. I agree it would be a good idea to update the pictures. but in the grand scheme of things its the last thing they are worried about.

The Marriott i worked in replaced all beds this year spent almost $800,000
Renovated one guest lounge room on the 12th Floor $350,000
With Monthly Electric bills @ around 60,000 a month to run an average 300 RM Hotel and paying all workers their paychecks there isn't much room for anything.

Nissanfairladyz32 wrote in post #16341935
I've worked for both Marriott and Hilton for years doing maintenance work, Everything is usually a standard......

This is a good point. It is very important to understand what sort of hotel your client is. A large chain like Marriott and Hilton will have everything centralised. The hotels will all look the same and that may include the art. Purchasing decisions will be done by the head office or at least the regional office, not individual hotels.

A smaller family/local/franchise​/boutique hotel may make their own purchasing decisions.